bedtime stories with ever

i am a sucker for ever's avoidance of bedtime.  lately she lures me in to read another book or discuss something.  last night she really had me with her cuteness.  she kept calling for me and the second time i went in her room after putting her in bed i finally told her she really needed to relax and go to sleep.  her response......"whoa whoa whoa wait mama i need to tell you a story!"  so what did i do....go get the camera and take several videos of her story telling.  this one is my favorite of the videos i took.  part of the time she is reciting one of her favorite bedtime books and the rest....well just see for yourself.  she recently learned her last name and she likes to say it often with a mixture of all the names she knows.  in the other videos she made up stories about her stuffed animals and other objects in the room.  i am totally in love with her imagination.

home at last

these pictures were taken during fable and olive's first week at home.  will and i were in shock that when we drove home from the hospital they didn't make a peep then when we got home they ate a bunch and took a long nap.  that kind of stuff never happened with ever.  their mostly mellow dispositions are especially nice since we have two tiny bundles to care for.  

ever was so happy that brandon came by.  she loved having him carry/swing her around in this basket.  bossing him around is one of her most favorite things.  

notice how fable put papa kit to sleep.  we all talk about how these babies are sleep inducers like ambien.  you hold one and you'll want to sleep.

ever needed pictures with her bears.

i'm often finding them sleeping in the same position but they move as soon as i take a picture.

painting with ice cream....maybe wanting some extra attention.  although i'm happy to report that ever didn't struggle much at all with the adjustment.  she's done so well just as i thought she would.  i had a harder time with it than her.  it was an emotional thing for me.  another thing i've noticed since fable and olive have arrived is a sudden increase in maturity/independence from ever and a stronger bond between her and i. it is hard to explain but something i'm sure other moms have experienced.  ever is such an amazing little human....always has been.

i really look forward to seeing what olive and fable's personalities are like as they get older.

more favorites from the first couple days

since olive and fable are one month old today i figured i better finish sharing the pictures i wanted to share from the hospital. 

hold on baby sisters

tuesday we decided to brave an outing together because i was ready to be out of the house.  will was going to go back to work middle of this week but we both decided neither of us were ready for that.  truth is i don't think we are ever going to be ready for that but it is most likely happening this coming monday and i think we are all going to be very sad about it.

notice how we are crammed into our vehicle like sardines.  a week or two after discovering another baby would be joining our family we traded in 2 of our vehicles for one newer vehicle.  there were lots of reasons behind our decision that made it seem like the best idea.  little did we know there were actually two babies brewing in my belly....a surprise we discovered two months later.  had we known that i think we would have gotten a bigger vehicle.  now we are sort of stuck cramming into this one for a while.  ever seems to enjoy the crammed situation.  as soon as we get everyone buckled in ever grabs the handles of fable and olive's carseats and says "hold on baby sisters!" as we drive around.  

we made our usual stop at the hospital....our home away from home....and my mom took pictures of us to once again document the family of five and also that olive and fable were 3 weeks old on this day.

i have learned to get very creative in situations where both babies are crying, hungry, needing to be held or changed.  i'm often holding one baby while doing various other things or finding a way to prop the two of them up to feed them at the same time.  once again the nursing isn't going according to plan but i'm still giving them what little bit of breast milk i can just like i did with ever.  i've even learned to get them both latched on to nurse at the same time.  i guarantee anyone would laugh if they saw how i have juggled everything in certain moments.  i end up laughing most of the time....better than crying.  luckily ever has learned to fend for herself some of the time by pushing a little chair into the pantry to grab herself a snack.  although there are moments where all three of my babes are crying or needing something at once.  it always seems to happen when will leaves the house to run errands so i'm pretty nervous to see how everything is going to unfold when he goes back to work.  

before we went home this particular day we decided to stop at the store for a few things.  as we got there olive and fable decided they were both starving.  they screamed at the same time then fable fell asleep while olive kept yelling for food.  i decided i better stay in the car with them while will and ever ran in for just the necessities.  will handed me olive i fed her for a minute while enjoying the quiet in the car.  suddenly fable woke up very upset.  i sat olive in ever's seat while leaning over mine to unbuckle fable upside down.  i then propped the two of them up in ever's seat and fed them both a bottle while leaning back there uncomfortably.  see what i mean....comedy.

leaving his dreams for us to enjoy

i posted this picture today on instagram with this caption:

the other night we went out to the mountains where i grew up...it was fable and olive's first time there.  i enjoyed the peaceful feeling and beautiful sites which made me think a lot about my dad and the legacy he left behind.  he was a visionary man that always worked towards his dreams regardless of how hard the path before him was.  i am sometimes saddened that he was not able to enjoy those dreams becoming a realities before he left this earthly existence.  today he would have celebrated another year of life.  on this day and many others i will appreciate the beauty of a sunset, just as he would have, from the place where he left his dreams for us to enjoy.

 here are several other pictures taken that evening.  including one of me sans makeup....your welcome.

 my first time wearing them in the moby wrap.  it felt a lot like being pregnant again.

ever picked and ate all the ripe strawberries she could find.

blurry but i love that expression on her face.

she also smelled flowers 

and pigged out on tomatoes.

being out at my moms is the ultimate adventure for her.